Papadzules

This is a classic Mayan dish from Yucatán made with the minimum of ingredients. Warmed corn tortillas are dipped into a pumpkin seed sauce from which the green oil has been extracted, and flavored with epazote. The tortillas are filled with chopped hard-cooked egg and topped with a tomato sauce. The final touch is given by little decorative pools of the green oil. Great care has to be taken to ensure that these ingredients are the freshest  slightly rancid or bitter pumpkin seeds can ruin it  and great care also should be taken in the preparation.

Preparation

Have ready a warmed, not hot, serving dish or warmed individual dishes.

Put the water, epazote, and salt into a small pan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Spread the pumpkin seeds in a thin layer over the bottom of a large skillet and heat through gently over low heat, turning them over from time to time. The seeds will swell, but take care not to let them become even slightly golden or the sauce will lose its fresh green color. You might want to keep a lid handy because often some of the seeds will start jumping out of the pan. Spread the seeds onto a metal tray to cool completely before grinding to avoid the blades seizing up with the volatile oil.

Using an electric coffee/spice grinder, grind a portion of the seeds at a time to a slightly textured consistency, 5 to 6 seconds. If the seeds are ground too fine, then it will be more difficult to extract the oil.

Have a small glass bowl ready for the oil.

Put the ground seeds onto a plate that has a slight ridge around the rim. Measure out 1/4 cup (63ml) of the epazote broth and little by little sprinkle it  don't, for goodness' sake, pour the whole lot  over the seeds and work it with your hands, first having put the telephone on automatic answering. Gradually add the liquid until you have a crumbly but cohesive paste.

Tilt the plate a little to one side and put a folded cloth underneath to hold it in that position. Start squeezing the paste and you will see that drops of oil will begin to extrude. Add a little more warm liquid if necessary  you probably won't need the whole amount  and keep squeezing until you have collected almost 4 tablespoons of dark green oil. (This is pure vitamin E, and great for the hands.) Crumble the paste into a blender jar, add the remaining strained epazote broth, if desired, and blend until smooth.

Transfer the sauce to a skillet and warm through over the lowest possible heat, stirring almost constantly because the starch content of the seeds begins to swell and the particles tend to coagulate in the bottom of the pan.

Dip one of the warm tortillas into the sauce: it should be lightly covered. If the sauce is too thick, dilute it with a little extra warm water. Work as quickly as you can, dipping each tortilla into the sauce, holding it with tongs but supporting it with a spatula so you don't get left with a bit of broken tortilla in your tongs. Sprinkle some of the chopped egg across one-third of the tortilla, roll it up, and place it on the warmed dish.

When all the papadzules are assembled, pour the remaining sauce over them. (If the sauce has thickened and become grainy looking, put it back into the blender with a little extra warm water and blend until smooth.) Now pour on the tomato sauce and sprinkle the chopped egg whites and yolks. Decorate with the optional epazote. As a final touch, spoon in little pools of the oil. Serve immediately or the oil will sink back into the sauce and all that work will have been for naught! Of course, it is more colorful and attractive to serve the papadzules together on one serving dish.

From My Mexican Kitchen

Clarkson Potter

my notes

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Recent Review

I've had papadzules in Yucateca cantinas, and it's a delicious dish. This was good ... but not quite what I was hoping for. The sauce in this recipe was a bit flat.
So I'm not sure how to rate this. Compared to what I want, it's only so-so. Yet it is so unique that it's worth trying and experimenting with.
I'll try it again using chicken stock instead of water, and maybe adding a bit of Mexican cream.